Species

Across Canada, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, climate change, and unsustainable harvesting have pushed over 500 species dangerously close to extinction. Species of every description, from lichens to leatherback turtles, whooping cranes to wood bison are at risk.

Encouragingly, the peregrine falcon and the sea otter have made a comeback. Less positively, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessed 18 new species as being at risk of extinction in Canada, including the black-footed albatross, basking shark and eastern flowering dogwood.

WWF-Canada aims to tackle the global trade in endangered species through our international TRAFFIC program; and reduce the effects of climate change on species, especially on northern species such as polar bears.